Working with two non-technical cofounders has presented some challenges when it comes to design, especially as a developer who has really only been playing the role of designer out of necessity. We started work on University Niche back in January, and one of our very first meetings was spent figuring out how we wanted the site to look and function. These are my notes from that meeting, based on the discussions between my cofounders and myself:Continue…

There are a ton of exceptions, of course. But if you’re selling a product or a service, there’s a good chance your user has no desire to be there.

They aren’t excited to use your website, so stop trying to make them. They’re using your service because it reduces some headache and makes their life easier. The majority of your users are not power users. They don’t care about small tweaks and under-the-hood features and having tons of options and managing their accounts and all that. They just want to load up your site, do the thing your site helps them do, and then get on with their lives.Continue…